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Torontoist is about Toronto and everything that happens in itTue, 03 Mar 2015 18:36:42 +0000en-UShourly1A Pedestrian Square Grows in North Torontohttp://torontoist.com/2011/07/a_pedestrian_square_grows_in_north_toronto/
http://torontoist.com/2011/07/a_pedestrian_square_grows_in_north_toronto/#commentsFri, 29 Jul 2011 18:00:00 +0000http://torontoist.com/2011/07/a_pedestrian_square_grows_in_north_toronto/North Toronto probably isn't the first neighbourhood you'd name when listing off public space experiments in the city, especially when future development plans at its main intersection look likely to decrease street-level open-air stretching room. Yet walk a block north from Eglinton Avenue along Yonge Street and you’ll find a pilot project aiming to create pedestrian space on Orchard View Boulevard. At an intersection where pedestrians often had to deal with impatient drivers and delivery trucks, they now find planters blocking the road and umbrella-shaded tables providing a more comfortable spot to enjoy al fresco dining than the concrete ledges lining the side street.
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North Toronto probably isn’t the first neighbourhood you’d name when listing off public space experiments in the city, especially when future development plans at its main intersection look likely to decrease street-level open-air stretching room. Yet walk a block north from Eglinton Avenue along Yonge Street and you’ll find a pilot project aiming to create pedestrian space on Orchard View Boulevard. At an intersection where pedestrians often had to deal with impatient drivers and delivery trucks, they now find planters blocking the road and umbrella-shaded tables providing a more comfortable spot to enjoy al fresco dining than the concrete ledges lining the side street.

Officially opened on July 14, the City created the pedestrian square by closing Orchard View Boulevard to traffic between Yonge Street and the driveway for the Canterbury House apartment building. Though concerns about the space have been expressed by the neighbouring RBC branch (impact on customers) and some local ratepayer groups (procedural issues), Councillor Karen Stintz (Ward 16, Eglinton-Lawrence) has received overwhelmingly positive feedback about the initiative she helped make a reality, along with ratepayer groups and RioCan. Besides providing a spot for residents and office workers to relax, Stintz joked that the project is “probably the cheapest park we’ll build in North Toronto,” which aligns it the Ford administration’s low-cost philosophy of government and may have contributed to the unanimous support the pilot project received at city council. Stintz also praised the support of RioCan, which operates the neighbouring Yonge-Eglinton Centre, through actions like maintaining the patio tables.
One of main beneficiaries of the pedestrian square is Apple Tree Markets, who moved their Thursday farmers’ market from a hidden space in Eglinton Park behind the North Toronto Memorial Community Recreation Centre to the pedestrian square. Higher visibility seems to be making market vendors happy: even with extreme heat last week and dreary conditions yesterday, they’ve seen increased customer traffic. The threat of rain hadn’t hindered activity when we dropped by around 4 p.m. yesterday—most of the tables were occupied and every market vendor saw several potential purchasers hovering over their fresh vegetables, coolers of meat, and other edible goodies. One vendor we talked to noted that customers indicated they preferred the market’s new home because they couldn’t be bothered to walk over to Eglinton Park, even if they lived mere blocks away.
After the tables are vacated for the last time on October 14, the pilot will be analyzed for its impact on the neighbourhood and for the possibility of making the closure a permanent seasonal attraction. (It’s not the first of its kind, exactly: the City has partnered with U of T and Ryerson on previous road-closure pilots.) There are also plans to test a second pedestrian square next year in the northern end of Stinz’s ward at Avenue Road and Dunblaine Avenue. Given that seating space is at a premium whenever we pass by, we hope that the new space will become a North Toronto fixture for years to come. Orchard View Square, anyone?Photos by Jamie Bradburn/Torontoist.

“This is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen in my life!” laughed an onlooker on Saturday afternoon, observing a crowd of people unabashedly pummeling one another with pillows.

Yonge Eglinton Square was the site of this past weekend’s pillow fight, anannualevent created by urban playground enthusiasts Newmindspace. After rain forced the group to reschedule the event from the previous Saturday, the fighters came out in droves, regardless of the gray sky. The motley crew included full-grown adults and a few brave toddlers, with a wealth of energetic teens making up the bulk of the mix. Costumes ranged from video game characters to flannel pajamas—some, like Newmindspace co-creator Lori Kufner, even brought personalized pillows (hers was a huge pink rabbit named “Cupcake”).
As the clock read 3:12 p.m. and the pillows started flying, the palpable aggression might have been related to the future of the square, which will be bulldozed later in the year in order to expand the Yonge Eglinton Centre. Newmindspace co-creator (and former Torontoist contributor) Kevin Bracken argues that the motion passed community council under the slightly dubious proposal that the expansion would not decrease public space, as a park will be built on top of the mall. “There’s an important distinction between a space that the public can go to and public spaces,” he said on Saturday while gearing up for the match. “Yonge Eglinton Centre is a public space, but it’s all privately owned.”
The waving pillows certainly livened up the already commercially dismal Yonge and Eglinton intersection, as dozens of passersby stopped to laugh and take photos.
While the day’s participants turned out to number fewer than the estimated five thousand people that participated in Newmindspace’s pillow fight in New York City, the crowd was still going at it with gusto an hour later. “We’re just having fun and saying farewell to this public space,” said Kufner, right before leading Cupcake into the fray.Photos by Miles Storey/Torontoist.

]]>http://torontoist.com/2010/05/pillow_fight_yonge_eglinton/feed/1Squaring Off at Yonge and Eglintonhttp://torontoist.com/2010/03/squaring_off_at_yonge_and_eglinton/
http://torontoist.com/2010/03/squaring_off_at_yonge_and_eglinton/#commentsTue, 30 Mar 2010 16:00:04 +0000http://torontoist.com/2010/03/squaring_off_at_yonge_and_eglinton/On any given lunch hour, the plaza in front of the Yonge-Eglinton Centre is populated by office workers enjoying a sun-soaked lunch and smoke break, high school students heading toward the food court or other nearby fast food joints, and companies handing out the corporate sample of the day to pedestrians. The sculptures lining the […]]]>

On any given lunch hour, the plaza in front of the Yonge-Eglinton Centre is populated by office workers enjoying a sun-soaked lunch and smoke break, high school students heading toward the food court or other nearby fast food joints, and companies handing out the corporate sample of the day to pedestrians. The sculptures lining the plaza had slightly more company than usual yesterday thanks to a protest over whom the space should serve: its private owner or the surrounding community.
Depending on the media source, between fifty and 125 protestors showed up waving signs urging site owner RioCan and local politicians to “keep Yonge for the young” as they chanted “save our square.” Local media was there in full force, which must have pleased the organizers from the Yonge-Eglinton Square Coalition—at times it felt as if there were more cameras and microphones about than concerned citizens (a running commentary on Urban Toronto made fun of the size of the protest relative to the square). At issue is RioCan’s plan to redevelop the Yonge-Eglinton Centre by topping the two existing office towers with additions of five and seven storeys apiece and the encroaching three storeys of new retail space onto the square thanks to a four-thousand-square-metre addition that will include a rooftop garden.

RioCan has set aside a gallery in the mall to show off its plans for the site. While the hours listed on the doors to the gallery indicated that it was open to the public yesterday, both of our attempts to take a look were met with unexplained locked entrances. It may be coincidental that the company’s official website for the redevelopment is under construction, though some sketches are still available for viewing [PDF].
According to its website, the Yonge-Eglinton Square Coalition represents four local residents’ associations that wish to preserve the lone accessible open space at the intersection. They hope that rather than build more retail onto it, the barren plaza be transformed into a people-friendly “welcoming oasis in the middle of the city.” Supporters were among the community members, city officials, and local developers who participated in a workshop last November [PDF] that examined ways to handle the redesign of the space and the intensification of the neighbourhood in general.
As far as public space was concerned, the workshop concluded that:

The northwest quadrant is a commercial hub, a focal point, and a regional destination. However, this quadrant needs a refit in its mid-life, including added retail and redesign of the indoor plaza. As well, currently, the square is not a good quality and pedestrian supportive environment as it is: a windy space with bad grades; without appropriate programming; lacking in adequate street furniture; and is seasonally constrained with piles of snow and salt. Therefore, the square in this quadrant, which is one of the key open spaces in the area, should be redesigned and improved…There is a shortage of open space at or near the intersection of Yonge and Eglinton. It is recommended that all four quadrants abutting the intersection contribute to remedy this shortage. Issues related to quantity of open space should be balanced with consideration for high quality design, pedestrian vitality and interest.

As for whether an open public space is legally required at Yonge and Eglinton, a site plan report from 1967 mentions a pedestrian plaza, while a bylaw passed the following year exempted a strip of land that became the pedestrian plaza. Yet the final city report for the current rezoning application [PDF] disputes that there were any written guarantees in the land title or any references in contemporary planning reports and council minutes that “require the land to remain as open space in a quid pro quo arrangement for Starrett Avenue [which was closed off to build the complex].”

Organizers of the protest hope their efforts will encourage concerned residents to contact city councillors before a final vote is taken on the project on Wednesday or Thursday. So far, RioCan’s proposals have been approved by the North York Community Council. At least two of the neighbourhood’s councillors are divided in their opinion of the project. Strong support for the redevelopment plan from Karen Stintz (Ward 16, Eglinton-Lawrence) has caused head-scratching among some local taxpayer groups, as she initially ran for municipal office on a wave of residential opposition to the construction of the Minto Quantum condo towers. A March 24 post on her website rebukes opponents of the plan by articling five points about the redevelopment, which include economic, aesthetic, and cultural benefits on land that is privately owned. As Stintz summarizes, “people are free to protest, but this application represents a fair balance for the community who wish to revitalize this corner and the property owners who wish to realize a benefit from their investment.”
Neighbouring councillor Michael Walker (Ward 22, St. Paul’s) supports those hoping to prevent the encroachment on the space from going ahead. As he told CTV News, “We don’t want to lose it and we should say no. It’s easy to say and the politicians shouldn’t cave to another deal-making exercise. There’s a point where profit has to take second place to city building and it starts right here where we’re standing.” Toronto District School Board trustee Josh Matlow, who is running to fill the retiring Walker’s council seat, lent his support to the protestors. “The reality is that nobody wants the square to be the way it is,” Matlow told the National Post. “It needs some work. Our community wants this to be revitalized, not lost to a shopping mall. It’s not a lot to ask.”Photos by Jamie Bradburn/Torontoist.

Overheard in line at the post office outlet in the Yonge-Eglinton Centre.Cashier: The total will be $21.94.(Customer hands over a credit card.)Cashier: Do you have a debit card?Customer: No.Cashier: Cash?Customer: No.Cashier: Debit card?Customer: Um, no.Cashier: No cash? No debit card?Customer: No. No.Cashierwaits for a minute, then, gently: Debit card?(Silence.)Cashier: Fine.Hear something? Send it to streeter@torontoist.com.